Bing Crosby (71 page)

Bing was twenty-seven and Dixie was eighteen when they married, on September 29, 1930, at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament
in Hollywood. She was far more famous than he was, and the wedding photo was widely published.
Susan Crosby Collection

In 1934, shortly before the birth of the twins, Bing and Dixie bought a sixty-five acre property in Rancho Santa Fe. Bing
hired Lillian J. Rice to restore the nineteenth-century Spanish style, but added modern improvements, including a tennis court.
Susan Crosby Collection

Bing, his mother, and James Cagney celebrate the christening of Bing’s first son, Gary, on October 8, 1933.
Ron Bosley Collection

In 1936 Bing and Dixie built their beloved mansion on six acres at 10500 Camarillo Street in the Toluca Lake section of North
Hollywood. It would be destroyed by fire in January 1943.
Architectural Digest

Dixie with her fourth son, Linnie, 1938. She was a dedicated tennis player until a kidney infection forced her to quit.
Rory Burke Collection

Top: Bing was a voracious reader, even when he wasn’t posing for publicity shots in his Camarillo Street home.
Architectural Digest

Bottom: On the set
of Anything Goes,
Bing posed with his costar Ethel Merman and two Paramount players who dropped by, Fred MacMurray and Bing’s old friend Gary
Cooper.
Ron Bosley Collection

At a 1953 party Errol Flynn demonstrated his admiration for Bing’s refusal to wear a toupee when he wasn’t working. Linnie
is seated on Bing’s left.
Susan Crosby Collection

Bing named a horse Decca Joe, after Joe Perry, the prolific producer who recorded many celebrated hits in the thirties and
forties.
Elsie Perry Collection

A frequent guest on Bing’s
Kraft Music Hall
was Lucille Ball, shown here with Bing and an unidentified friend.
Gary Giddins Collection

Harry Crosby visited Bing on the set of
Were Not Dressing,
1934.
Elsie Perry Collection

Bing and Dixie on the lawn of their home with, left to right, Phillip, Gary, Linnie, and Dennie, 1940.
Susan Crosby Collection

Bing looked forward to working with Louis in
Doctor Rhythm,
a picture plagued with mishaps; to Bing’s chagrin, the Armstrong footage was cut and apparently lost, November 1937.
Gary Giddins Collection